1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to remote control systems (RC Systems or simply RCS's), and, more particularly, to remote control transmitters and transceivers (RCTs).
2. Background
Remote controls are widely used to operate television sets, videocassette recorders, digital video players, radios, compact discs, audio tape players, and many other audio and video components and systems. Remote control systems have also been used for decades to control many devices beyond the standard fare of entertainment systems. For example, remote control systems can be used to operate model airplanes, railroad locomotives, boats, cars, and other toys. Remote controls can also be used to exercise functions of security systems, including vehicle and home security systems. Many other remote control applications can be thought of, including control of generators and smart homes. In general, a remote control system includes a remote controller, or simply a remote control, and a device controlled or operated by the remote control. Thus, a remote control is a device or implement through which the operation of one or more systems can be controlled by transmission of control information. It is a device for controlling the operation of the system or systems, as distinguished from a device used solely for transmitting authentication or transaction selection and authorization data.
More often than not, remote control systems are wireless systems. By “wireless” we mean that no direct mechanical connection needs to exist between a controlled apparatus and its corresponding remote control, to transmit control commands between them; instead, the remote control transmits the commands over a wireless link. The wireless link can be an ultrasound link, with the controller transmitting ultrasound signals from an ultrasound transducer to the controlled system. The link can also be a radio frequency (RF) link, including a link implemented over a microwave frequency band, or an infrared (IR) link. These are only some of the more common wireless links, and we do not exclude any other electromagnetic or sound frequencies from the scope of the word wireless in the present context.
With the progress of electronic industry over the years, the capabilities of remote controls have increased substantially. For example, many of the early RF remote control transmitters used only the operating frequency and time (duration) of transmission to operate their controlled systems. Today, there are frequency hopping and direct sequence spread spectrum remote control transmitters with code hopping or code rolling capabilities. Sophisticated encryption algorithms are sometimes used for transmissions over control links, making it difficult to duplicate a particular remote control transmitter without knowledge of its operating scheme. In sum, the technological field of remote controls has grown and advanced with the rest of electronic technologies.
Some of these technological advances have enabled miniature and relatively inexpensive electronic circuitry within a transmitter to operate many more functions of the controlled system than could be operated in the past. These developments have not gone unnoticed by product designers: the trend is to have more and more switches and keys on a remote control, to operate the increasingly sophisticated remotely controlled systems. One example of this trend is the availability of the so-called universal remote control—a remote control that can be manually programmed to learn the operational codes and provide remote control operation of many different entertainment devices.
The size of a typical remote control transmitter for operating a television set or similar entertainment device is about the size of a typical calculator: it can be held in one hand. The number of keys on the face of the typical remote control is perhaps somewhere between one and three dozen. As noted above, the number of available control functions continues to grow. At the same time, manufacturers would like to contain the size of the remote control within the same “hand-held” limits. Because the size of a finger-operated key cannot be decreased much below the size of an average fingertip, the number of keys also needs to be limited.
In other applications, the size of the remote control is even more restricted. For example, a remote control for an automotive security system has to be carried by the driver. Often, the driver carries the remote control on a key chain, either in a pocket or purse. The remote control, the key chain with a few keys, and possibly a wallet or pocket change are expected to fit comfortably in a garment pocket. A remote controller with a multitude of finger-operated keys hardly fits this requirement.
For these and other reasons, the proliferation in the number of keys on the faces of remote controls is unwelcome. Several attempts have been made to reduce this number. For example, some television and other remote controls show the controlled function on the screen of the controlled system. In case of videocassette recorders and similar video devices other than television sets, the function is displayed on the attached television set. The user of the remote control selects the function by depressing the keys of the remote control, or by manipulating a pointing device, for example, a scrolling device built into the remote control. Such remote controls, however, presuppose the availability of a television set or monitor within the operator's viewing range. The range and applications of these devices are therefore limited.
According to a different technique, one key of a remote control is depressed multiple times to select a function with or without a visual or audible indicator, such as an LED or multiple LEDs (number of flashes or color) or a signal chirp, and another key is used to transmit the selected function command. In a variation of this technique, depressing the first key selects the function of the controlled system by selecting the channel or data word to be transmitted, and depressing the second key transmits the selected function command, with the function of each key being determined by the order in which the keys are depressed. As can be easily seen, these solutions still limit the total number of functions accessible from a small number of keys. Moreover, a user's selection of a particular function is made more difficult, because of the complicated sequence in which the keys must be depressed.
In another variation of the technique discussed in the preceding paragraph, one key is used to select a function by holding the key depressed until the desired transmitter channel or control data word is selected, and the remote control transmits the appropriate function selection command when the key is released. Here, however, the user is inconvenienced by the need to observe the LED flashes or color and flashes.
In accordance with another approach, a remote control transmitter uses a keypad with an optional display screen to select desired commands. The keypad is used in conjunction with the screen, in what amounts to a one-to-one correspondence between each of the multiple keys and multiple images (icons) on the screen. The screen can be a touch-sensitive screen, eliminating the need for a separate keypad. But the number of keys, whether being part of the keypad or part of the touch-sensitive screen, remains about the same as the number of functions controlled by the transmitter. Without the screen, the keys on the keypad control separate transmitter control channels or data words that control the functions of the system.
Remote control transmitters for television sets have also been known to incorporate screens for displaying television programming information, possibly including the title of the current program, a movie guide, a sports programming guide, or a children's programming guide. Such use of a display screen, however, does not decrease the number of keys on the remote control transmitter, or the size of the transmitter.
Users of remote controls often prefer to hold and operate the controls with the same hand. Because of the anatomy of the human hand, the finger of choice for pressing the keys is the thumb. Thus, the location of the keys on the face of the remote control is important. Unfortunately, what can be perfect key positioning for a right-handed user, can be a rather inconvenient key positioning for a left-handed user, and vice versa.
Information relevant to attempts to improve remote controls can also be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,944,982; 3,949,297; 3,971,986; 3,988,701; 4,021,756; 4,041,394; 4,746,919; 4,890,108; 4,963,876; 5,038,401; 5,648,781; 5,712,638; 5,774,051; 6,127,941; 6,130,726; and 6,158,655.
Although detailed analyses of the above-described attempts to improve remote controls are beyond the scope of the present document, each suffers from one or more of the following disadvantages: (1) large size of the remote control; (2) large number of activation keys and switches on the remote control; (3) small number of functions accessible through the remote control; (4) difficulty in selecting a desired function through the remote control; (5) lack of adaptability of the remote control to automotive security systems; (6) inability to configure the remote control for both right- and left-handed operation; and (7) inability to program conveniently the remote control in order to customize its operation and appearance.
A need thus exists for remote controllers that can control an increasing number of functions without an accompanying increase in the size of the device or in the number of keys needed to control these functions. A further need exists for miniature remote controllers capable of controlling a large number of functions. Still another need exists for miniature remote controllers that can control a large number of functions of automotive security systems. Yet another need exists for remote controllers that can be configured by the user for both right- and left-handed operation, and to be customized in other respects.